My focus as an artist is the investigation of color and form, with the intent to describe emotions or mental states. The subject of my work is my internal world and I strive to translate the intimate and personal into a visual plane devoid of representational symbols, relying strictly on the colors, gestures, and shapes to convey the emotion depicted. Each work is comprised of many layers, braiding colors and shapes. The oil paints are allowed to dry totally before the next layer is implemented. Time then becomes a significant component in shaping the work, as the period of drying the paints allows for further mediation on the experience or emotional state. As a result, each painting requires months or years to complete. I then live with the painting for several weeks to be certain that the work is completed and my intent is successfully conveyed.
For certain works, I am living the subject experience over the course of the lifetime of the painting’s construction. The paintings shift and morph during their creation and coalesce layer by layer. I do not necessarily set out with an image in mind, but rather allow the work to grow as my experience is deepened.
The many layers of colors and marks result in a richly textured surface. Upon close inspection and in a raking light, the viewer can trace the history of the painting, discovering shapes, gestures, and foundational colors hidden beneath levels of paint.
One motif commonly reappears in my work. Constructed primarily of lines, this shape is to me a perfect hybrid of a topographical map, a fish or animal form, and light on a liquid surface. The shape signifies an archetype of nature, something fundamentally familiar, but often forgotten.
My intention is to invite viewers to approach each work with their own experiences and emotions and investigate the paintings to determine if they can relate to my interpretation of a specific feeling in color and form. I hope to open a dialogue with the audience in this way. Heavily influenced by the American Abstract Expressionist movement of the mid-twentieth century, I believe that by minimizing the representational forms and instead relying on color and gesture, the ephemeral qualities of our human existence are more accurately conveyed and related.
Phelan McConaha's work can be categorized with American Abstract Expressionism. Her paintings have been exhibited in numerous exhibitions across the United States. She received her Bachelor Fine Arts in Art History from the University of Illinois in Urbana, Champaign in 2005. She works as a fine art appraiser specializing in Post-War, Contemporary, and Emerging fine art, as well as Impressionist and Modern fine art and California and Western fine art. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California.